Hithertofore, in order to continuously and automatically secure a bottom end stop to one end of each element portion of an indefinite length of fastener chain having alternately engaging element portion and space portion formed thereon, a stopper is protruded into a selected one of the space portions of the chain while the chain is moving at a high speed to arrest the movement of the chain, a separately formed bottom end stop is transferred to and positioned at the end of a selected one of the element portions of the chain which is standing still and the bottom end stop is then driven into the chain by a press or the like to be secured to the chain in bent condition. Such method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,096,685.
However, the prior art method has the disadvantage that in order to arrest the movement of the fastener chain moving at a high speed, the stopper is protruded into a selected space portion on the fastener chain to cause the stopper and the engaging fastener elements upstream of the space portion to abut against each other to thereby halt the movement of the chain and thus, the engaging fastener elements frequently tend to cause splitting resulting in interruption of the operation. And according to the above-mentioned prior art method, since the fastener chain halts its movement when the engaging elements upstream of the space portion resiliently strike against the stopper, the ultimate halting position of the engaging elements can not be easily adjusted and as a result, the bottom end stop is frequently secured to the end of the element portion in a position other than the predetermined position.